No bonus for Nokia’s handset biz employees even as Elop pockets $25 million for Microsoft sale

Nokia has decided not to give any performance bonus to its employees from the devices and services unit for 2013, BGR India has exclusively learnt. The news was posted on Nokia’s intranet on Friday. The company cited that “the business did not meet the threshold on operating profitability, which was to at least break even.” This is the same division that Nokia has sold to Microsoft and is expecting the deal to close in this quarter itself, according to statements issued in Nokia’s Q4 2013 results. BGR India has a copy of the memo posted on Nokia’s intranet.

BGR India spoke to numerous Nokians around the world, most of whom were disappointed and showed resentment against Elop. However, little is likely to change even under Microsoft considering Elop is moving to Microsoft along with the rest of the Nokians and will be heading the business there as well.

Meanwhile, it seems that employees from other businesses that will continue under Nokia are getting their annual bonuses.

Here’s the relevant part of the memo that BGR India has accessed:

Unfortunately, it’s disappointing news with respect to the annual Reward for Results program for employees in Devices & Services and corporate functions. Over 2013, the business did not meet the threshold on operating profitability, which was to at least break even. This means that there will be no Reward for Results pay-out for 2012 for those employees.

It’s happier news for employees in HERE. Given that HERE is operating in a different business environment, the NLT and board of Directors wanted to specifically recognize HERE for reaching the break-even point of HERE external revenues in profitability at the end of 2013, which has been a key indicator for success. The team is granted a one-off bonus to be shared across HERE employees under a HERE incentive program, More details will be shared within HERE.